Jesus in Mark

by Michael Shackleton · August 4, 2003

JESUS IN MARK: A teacher for the new century, by Br Mark Colussi. Published by Paulines Publications Africa, Nairobi, 2003. 160pp.

Reviewed by Michael Shackleton

Mario Colussi is a Marist brother who has had an academically distinguished career of 50 years. He has taught in Marist schools in South Africa and other African lands.

His book clearly manifests his strong desire to pass on his rich experience to other teachers who, like him, have found teaching contemporary youth about Christ and his Church a huge challenge. He found the Gospel of Mark the obvious place to start. Among other reasons for this is his acceptance of the two-source theory about the origins of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). This theory’s principal proposition is that Mark was the first of these gospels to be written down.

If Mark’s was indeed the first gospel, it must have been the text most familiar to the earliest Christians, and accordingly will reflect Jesus’ life and teaching most closely. And Mario Colussi takes it from there.

His grasp of Mark’s gospel and his insights into its obvious, as well as not-so-obvious, contextual meanings are expertly analysed and presented. I have lectured and tutored in biblical studies for 25 years now, and I confess that of all the books on the subject I have had to read and use, this is the most concise and the simplest and best analysis of the gospel. More than that, its appreciation of the pitfalls in religious instruction lends it a usefulness which, I think, all teachers should find helpful and all students should find fascinating.

Dedicated teachers will often complain that theirs is a thankless task. Mario Colussi, in comparing Jesus the great teacher with the man or woman in the classroom, demonstrates trenchantly that Jesus, our model teacher, led the way in making sacrifices for those he was instructing. Also, he was a brilliant story-teller with a keen mind, a man of conviction and vulnerable compassion. He could relate to others, particularly to children. He fired the imagination of his listeners, encouraged them and patiently coped with their delays and failure. He was ready to forgive.

In this comparison, Mario Colussi imitates Jesus’ teaching style by sprinkling his discussion with modern parables and true tales that dramatically underscore the point he is explaining in relation to relevant events in Jesus’ ministry. It is these, I believe, that raises the book above the simply academic to the heights of skilled pedagogy.

Not only the teaching profession will learn from this masterful presentation. It will appeal to everybody, and will especially give all those who read the Bible alone or in groups, a new graphic appreciation of the person of Jesus Christ as described by the evangelist. Jesus in Mark is a credit to the author’s love of his faith and his vocation, and it deserves a wide readership.